Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with masonry wall construction and reinforcement systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,808, issued to Bengtson, et al., teaches a masonry block system that uses blocks formed with minimum webbing to minimize heat flow. Briefly, the patent teaches a wall system that is formed into a unitary structure using blocks. The wall also uses threaded post-tensioning rods tied to reinforcement rods in the wall footer and extending through the voids that contain polyurethane foam in the respective blocks to a top plate positioned on top of the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,116, issued to Ward, et al., teaches a method of rammed-earth building construction wherein post-tensioning rods are anchored to a concrete footing so that the wall is post-tensioned to enhance the ability of the wall to receive lateral loading without failing in tension. The wall is then topped with a concrete bond beam and a retaining plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,955, issued to Kostopoulos, et al., teaches a method and apparatus for constructing a concrete block wall. Briefly, the patent teaches a concrete block wall constructed of concrete blocks each having one or more vertical openings. The patent includes the steps of the layering the blocks to generally align the vertical openings to initiate formation of the wall and placing reinforcement bars through the aligned openings. The wall also utilizes a connector that tightly grips each respective bar to form a frictional engagement of the connector and the bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,450 issued to Locke, et al., teaches a masonry reinforcement system. The patent teaches a reinforcement system that includes a number of tensioning rods extending from the top to the bottom of a masonry wall structure in spaced columns. In each column, several rod segments are interconnected at each floor diaphragm using a double conical connector assembly. Each type of connector assembly is embedded in a pocket formed in the masonry wall structure using a hardenable grout.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,357 issued to Franklin, et al., teaches a modular precast construction block system with a wall subsystem and a foundation subsystem. The wall subsystem has a number of wall units having cavities and pre-stressed tension cables. The wall units are aligned to form walls with vertically aligned cavities. Threaded wall bars and extension bars are threaded through the cavities. The foundation subsystem includes a variety of precast foundation members.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,225,578 issued to Ronagh, et al., teaches a method for construction of a wall using flexible interlocking mortarless wall units. Briefly, the patent teaches a wall foundation, with foundation tendon rods, that is first constructed with a set of mechanical fastenings attached to the foundation tendon rods. A wall structure is created by vertically stacking a plurality of wall units onto the threaded tendon rods and affixing the wall units using the mechanical fastening. A plurality of roof connecters and rods are attached to horizontally form a network of roof rods, which interconnect the walls for building a roof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,040 issued to Cerrato, et al., teaches a masonry wall system made of masonry blocks each consisting of interlocking dovetails combined with vertical and horizontal mating surfaces. The main block has two stabilizing holes through the center, and steel reinforcement rods are inserted into these stabilizing holes. The masonry components and loosely placed rods have predetermined tolerances, which permit the wall to have a fluid property. When all of the masonry components reach the peak of their tolerance, the wall locks up as a solid interconnected mass, and the force is then passed on to the stabilizing rods.